IANS/Kolkata

An embattled Trinamool Congress yesterday got a shot in the arm by emphatically retaining the Bongaon Lok Sabha and Krishnaganj assembly seats in West Bengal, where by-elections were held last week.
Cornered over the Saradha chit fund scam in which several of its leaders have been either arrested or questioned, the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress called the victory a “miracle” while the opposition Left Front led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) claimed the polls did not reflect the people’s choice.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has been gaining ground in the state, finished second at Krishnaganj, pushing the CPM to the third spot. In Bongaon, the CPM narrowly succeeded in retaining the second position after a close battle with the BJP.
Congress candidates lost their deposits and came fourth in both seats.
In Bongaon, Trinamool candidate Mamatabala trounced the CPM nominee and former state minister Debesh Das by over 200,000 votes. She led in all seven assembly segments of the mainly rural constituency, comprising parts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts.
Das, who was the runner-up in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, was initially at the third position, but made up midway through the counting to climb up one rung.
The Bangaon by-election, necessitated by the death of Trinamool MP Kapil Krishna Thakur, assumed extra significance for the ruling party after state minister and Kapil Krishna’s brother Manjul Krishna quit and joined BJP in the lead-up to the election.
While the Trinamool fielded Kapil Krishna’s widow Mamatabala, the BJP ticket went to Manjul Krishna’s son Subrata.
In Nadia district’s Krishnaganj, Trinamool candidate Satyajit Biswas won by over 37,000 votes against Manabendra Roy of the BJP.
The Trinamool vote share dropped 2% compared to last year’s Lok Sabha elections, while the BJP’s vote almost doubled. CPM’s Apurba Biswas secured far less support this time compared to last year.
The seat fell vacant due to the death of Trinamool lawmaker Sushil Biswas.
Over 80% voters cast their votes on February 13 in the two seats, reserved for scheduled caste candidates.
The twin electoral success boosted the Trinamool, which is also battling internal strife with one-time second-in-command and general secretary Mukul Roy distancing himself from the party.
Describing the twin victories as a “miracle,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said the people have rejected the conspiracies and malicious campaign by the BJP and asserted her party was “intact” and “strong.”
“This is people’s magic. This is a miracle. We had not expected that we will win by such big margins. People have bowled out the opposition,” Banerjee said.
Asked about turmoil within the Trinamool, Banerjee said: “We are the number one strong party not only in India, but in the world. No one can divide Trinamool.
“If any individual gives his opinion, it is his prerogative. But the party remains strong and united and this is our collective family.”
Amid speculation that he might quit the party after most of his organisational responsibilities were delegated to others by Banerjee during a reshuffle on February 14, Roy said the victories were “expected.”
Meanwhile, the BJP claimed that the by-elections reflected Trinamool’s decline and its continuous surge in the state.
“In both seats our graph had increased rapidly. If in Krishanganj we gained 26% in vote share since 2011, in Bongaon the margin of loss has been nearly halved from the 2014 polls where the victory margin was in excess of three lakh votes,” BJP national secretary Siddharth Nath Singh said.
CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the results do not reflect the peoples’ verdict.
“The misfortune is that our parliamentary democracy system is getting thoroughly distorted either by money power or muscle power or both.”
The day brought another piece of good news for the Trinamool, as former police officer and party leader Rajat Majumdar was granted bail by the Calcutta High Court.
Majumdar, a former director general of state armed police was arrested on September 9, 2014 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged complicity in the Saradha scam.